


The Shadow! The Shadow? The Shadow.

by professor



Category: The Gamers (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 09:24:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2807531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professor/pseuds/professor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And just how are they finding him every time, anyway?</p>
<p>He realizes that’s what he should have asked himself six dungeons ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Shadow! The Shadow? The Shadow.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hellseries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellseries/gifts).



He saunters into the tavern, cape a-swirl, and is about to introduce himself when --

“The Shadow?” asks the man by the door.

“The Shadow?!” yelps the gnome bartender, ducking behind the bar.

“The _Shadow_.” says the mercenary sitting at the table.

He smiles behind his mask. He loves it when his reputation precedes him.

“Good, this makes things simple,” he says, his voice deceptively pleasant.

His enemies will never see him coming.

He smiles.

They never do.

*****

It’s so perfect. With everyone distracted by Mort Kemnon, it’s _easy_ for him to establish his power base under everyone’s collective nose. By the time anyone notices what he’s done, it’s far, _far_ too late.

*****

The death of Mort Kemnon does nothing but accelerate his plans. He doesn’t need to waste time or energy trying to acquire the mask from Kemnon or his puppetmaster. Stealing the Mask of Death from the king’s treasury is child’s play. 

And now, _nothing_ will get in the way of his plans.

*****

The Shadow thinks this right up until he has to flee for his life, his stronghold a smoking ruin behind him.

No matter. This is only a minor setback.

Next time he will be better prepared.

*****

The Shadow is tempted to murder a few or perhaps a few dozen of his minions. Damn those adventurers! Must they foil his plans _again_? He’s spent years of his life, _years_ of riddles and traps and dungeons and dangers, trying to evade them. And _every_ time, they defeat everything he throws in their path. It’s getting tiresome.

He may need to consider withdrawing from this plane for a while, and setting up shop in another realm. But he likes it here. There are certain … compensations. And it galls him to think of running away.

And frankly, there’s no guarantee they won’t simple follow him, wherever he goes. They’ve certainly tracked him to every remote corner of _this_ realm.

*****

The adventurers seem adept at thwarting _whatever he throws at them._ This is a problem.

He can’t stop them, so he studies them, trying to find some kind of weakness.

It turns out they have a lot of weaknesses -- but that still doesn’t stop them from defeating his minions every time.

The sorceress should have gotten herself killed with reckless spellcasting ages ago. The bard dies on a regular basis but never stays dead. The monk is hot-headed and prideful. The paladin and the fighter could prove to be a threat, if they weren’t so wrapped up in their slow, hesitant courtship.

But every time, just when he thinks he’s finally, finally defeated them, they come charging back into his dungeons, ready to kill everything in sight.

It’s tiresome. He has things to do, goals to achieve, and he has to spend so much of his time and energy sourcing out new lairs, interviewing and hiring new minions, setting traps and hiding treasure.

And just how are they finding him every time, anyway?

He realizes _that’s_ what he should have asked himself six dungeons ago.

*****

He turns his vast intellect to the question, and it takes him a long, long time to find the answer.

The answer turns out to be fiendishly complex, and astoundingly simple all at once. He has to call in a favor from a genie who owes him to understand some of the subtler nuances, but once he does ---

Oh, this knowledge, this great secret --

\-- this will change _everything._

*****

Sadly, it does mean he’s not going to be able to prevent the adventurers from tracking him anytime soon. 

But he finally knows what he’s up against -- not magic or guile or betrayal, but something far more powerful and mysterious.

He doesn’t have to thwart the adventurers. He just has to play for time. And that changes the game, immensely.

*****

He spends the next few years seeking the most ancient, the most forbidden lore, trying to discover how he can use the Great Secret to bring himself what he needs -- a way to reach those who are controlling his fate.

He finally lays eyes on his _true_ enemies, and almost has to laugh with despair. _Them_? These are the ones who keep destroying _everything_ he’s worked so hard to achieve, again and again and _again_? And it’s nothing but a _game_ to them? A pleasant pastime?

But as angry as he is on his own behalf, he’s even _angrier_ on behalf of the adventurers who keep seeking him. All this time, they’ve never been his enemies at all. They are merely pawns, caught up in a much greater game, without realizing it.

He vows to free them all from the cruel hands of fate.

*****

And at last, he’s ready.

“Now, give us the girl,” demands the paladin, confident, almost righteously smug in his perceived victory.

The Shadow smiles behind his mask. He enjoys a good endgame as much as the next villain. “The girl was but a means to an end. To lure the five of you here.”

“To kill us?”

“You? No,” he says. “My quarrel was never with you.” It’s true. He’s long since stopped blaming them for the uncaring forces that control them … the hands of fate. 

Of all the people caught up in this, they deserve to know. “The great secret I mentioned,” he asks them. “Do you remember it?

He sets down the chess set with a thump, and waits for them to _see_.

They lean in, curious. “What is that?” asks the fighter.

The bard appears to be the first one to catch on. “Is that...oh my…”

“My quarrel has never been with you,” he tells them. “Rather...it's been with those who've continually thwarted my plans.”

He casts his spell, and they vanish.

He waits. He doesn’t have to wait long. 

Finally, he gets to greet his true enemies face to face. 

“Now you,” he tells the five gamers who have made a merry hell of his plans for the past seven years, “I have quite the quarrel with.”

He draws his sword.


End file.
